The England international picked up a series of knocks over the course of the last 14 months, and was forced to sit out the entirety of the 2011-12 campaign.

"It’s great to get my first 70 minutes, especially in front of an Emirates crowd. The crowd have been great. It’s been a long journey but I’m back now and hopefully I can push on," he told Sky Sports.

“The Arsenal fans have always been great to me and I can just thank them and hopefully they can be great to me in the future.”

"The boss spoke to me this morning and said we'll see how you feel after 60 and to be honest I was cramping up after 60, so it was better for Theo [Walcott] to come on fresh and he made a difference when he came on.

“He pushed Aaron [Ramsey] inside and let Mikel [Arteta] go further forward and thankfully we got the win. The experienced players here, like Mikel and Santi [Cazorla], they’ve been there and they helped me through it so thanks to them.”

Wilshere put in an assured performance in the centre of the park, playing a number of tidy passes, and looked lively throughout the encounter.

“That’s my game. I can’t lose that. That’s what got me here today and I need to keep doing that, keep working hard in training to get back to the level that I know I can be,” he added.

The midfielder feels his side picked up a vital win over a good opponent as he believes the Gunners had to graft hard to earn the three points.

“QPR are a good team. They’re a bit unlucky to be where they are in the table. So we didn't underestimate them and we knew, especially from their midfield and their wingers, that they were going to be strong.”